Military idols of General Vo Nguyen Giap

King Hung Dao Tran Quoc Tuanwas the most talented general of the Tran Dynasty, who wrote "Du chu ty tuong hich van", "Binh thu yeu luoc", "Van kiep tong bi truyen thu". As the Commander of the navy and army in the second and third resistance wars against the Yuan - Mongols, he contributed greatly to the Tran Dynasty in commanding the Tran Dynasty's army and people to use short weapons to fight against long battles, using the strategy of empty gardens and houses, and steadfastly winning the resistance. After the third resistance war against the Yuan - Mongols, he returned to his estate in Van Kiep (Hai Duong). However, the Tran Kings still often came to ask about strategies. In 1300, King Tran Anh Tong asked about strategies to protect the country, and he said: "Be lenient with the people's strength to make a strategy that is deep-rooted and strong-rooted, that is the best strategy to protect the country".

Statue of King Tran Quoc Tuan. Photo courtesy

In 1416, Nguyen Trai escaped from Dong Quan, where the Ming invaders held him under house arrest, and then presented the Binh Ngo book to Le Loi in Loi Giang, Thanh Hoa. In the preface to Uc Trai di tap, Ngo The Vinh said that Binh Ngo book "offered great strategies that did not mention attacking the city, but rather skillfully talked about attacking the hearts of the people". After reading Binh Ngo book, Nguyen Trai was allowed by Le Loi to attend military discussions day and night. According to Nguyen Trai, humanity is the source of life. With humanity, there will be success, without humanity, there will be failure. The Ming invaders then“Deceiving heaven and people with thousands of tricks/ Causing war, creating hatred for twenty years/ Defeating humanity, destroying heaven and earth”(Binh Ngo Dai Cao). Nguyen Trai's "hit the hearts of the people" military strategy thus helped the Lam Son uprising win the hearts of the people when advancing to expand the uprising.

On January 25, At Ty year (1425), when the insurgents entered Nghe An, the Lam Son uprising commanders ordered their generals and soldiers: Our people have been suffering from the enemy for a long time, no district or province must be invaded. Therefore, Lam Son Thuc Luc said that after the above order was carried out, everyone was happy, competing to bring buffaloes and wine to welcome and use for military purposes. WhenLam Son armyWhen a group suddenly returned to attack Tay Do, the people of Thanh Hoa all rushed to the army's door, enthusiastically offering to make an effort to repay the debt. Lam Son Thuc Luc further stated that when advancing to the North, the Lam Son army was delighted by the people of Dong Kinh and the border towns of other regions, who competed to bring cows, goats, and food to reward the generals and soldiers.

Portrait of National Hero Nguyen Trai. Photo: TT&VH

At the end of 1426, when our army advanced to besiege Dong Do citadel, in the first 3 days, the people of the capital and the prefectures and districts, as well as the chieftains at the border towns, all flocked to the army gate, asking to fight to the death to defeat the enemy citadels in all places. Next, the organization of the Dong Quan Oath (December 10, 1427) to let Vuong Thong withdraw his troops back to his country was precisely because of“It is better to take the whole army, to let the people rest/ Not only is the strategy miraculous/ It is also unprecedented.”(Binh Ngo Dai Cao). The Lam Son uprising was successful because this was an army that put humanity first. Having humanity will create an army that no enemy can defeat. That is the pinnacle of Nguyen Trai's "hitting the heart" military strategy.

History recordedEmperor Quang Trung - Nguyen Huenever lost a battle. He wiped out 290,000 Manchu invaders from the country in 1789. In his work History of Our Country (1941), President Ho Chi Minh also commented that he was an "extraordinary" person with "great ambition and great strategy". The plan to march and attack the enemy in a flash was a brilliant military strategy of this common leader. Because 290,000 Manchu troops were brought back to the country by King Le Chieu Thong and they had time to build defensive fortifications. With fewer troops and marching from afar, the Tay Son army still defeated the enemy. The reason was that Quang Trung - Nguyen Hue divided the army into 3 groups and marched at lightning speed, surprising the enemy and causing them to be passive and defeated. Talking about this, the book Hoang Le Nhat Thong Chi wrote:“The Tay Son army marched like the wind and advanced very quickly. Seeing them move so quickly and swiftly like gods, it was impossible to resist and impossible to catch up.”

Statue of Emperor Quang Trung in Binh Dinh province.

As a history teacher,General Vo Nguyen Giaphas inherited the strategies of fighting the enemy and defending the country of our ancestors. Because the history of our nation is the history written by thousands of years of building and defending the country. In 1988, General Vo Nguyen Giap accepted the position of Honorary President of the Vietnam Historical Association. The General often repeated the simple saying of President Ho Chi Minh: "Our people must know our history". In many exchanges with the Vietnam Historical Association, the General said that it was his knowledge and historical thinking that helped him a lot in commanding our Army in the resistance wars against the French and the Americans.

General Vo Nguyen Giap's military ideology originated from the traditional military ideology of the Vietnamese people, which is "to use great justice to defeat cruelty, to use humanity to replace violence". Seeing his soldiers as his own flesh and blood, General Vo Nguyen Giap was "a Commander-in-Chief who felt pain with every wound of each soldier, and regretted every drop of blood of each warrior" as commented by Senior Lieutenant General Tran Van Tra.

The Dien Bien Phu Campaign Command under the direct command of General Vo Nguyen Giap is discussing the combat plan for each battle. Photo: VNA

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Minh Thao affirmed: “Commander-in-Chief Vo Nguyen Giap never used the practice of the revolutionary offensive viewpoint to give subjective orders, causing serious and unreasonable casualties to units, especially to divisions. The bold and cautious attacks of the Commander-in-Chief not only terrified the enemy but also preserved the main force and the lives of generals and soldiers at a high rate. Comrade Vo Nguyen Giap was always deeply aware: Commanders at all levels in general, especially the Commander-in-Chief, must be responsible for every wound, every drop of blood of each soldier. I know clearly that the Commander-in-Chief has spent many sleepless nights, with tears streaming down his face, because he heard that in a certain campaign too much blood was shed by soldiers, but the victory was not commensurate. That is Van's heart! That is the humanistic way of fighting and attacking of General Commander-in-Chief Vo Nguyen Giap!”

In 1990, when interviewed by American journalist and historian Stanley Karnow - New York Times reporter, author of the book "Vietnam - a history", General Vo Nguyen Giap expressed: "Please remember, I am a general fighting for peace. If I had not become a soldier,maybe i'm still a teacher, can be Philosophy or History”.

In November 1998, journalist John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jr. (son of US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy) published an interview with General Vo Nguyen Giap in George Magazine. When asked, “Who is the best Vietnamese general?”, without a moment’s thought, the General immediately replied, “The Vietnamese people!”

General Vo Nguyen Giap during his return visit to Dien Bien Phu in April 1994. Photo: Catherine Karnow